A Magical Journey Continues
by CrazyJanaCat
Summary: Tom's second year at Hogwarts can't come quick enough. After a difficult summer and a rocky start of the schoolyear, Tom and his friends finally settle in a comfortable setting. New people get introduced to the group, and families will get explored. Unknown bloodlines are revealed and Tom's search for greatness finally commences.
1. Owl Post

Dear Tom,

How is your summer going already? I know it only started two weeks ago, but I'm very curious! I've had to spend the first week with my cousins, since they always hold some kind of family gathering to celebrate the starting of the summer. It was horrible, if you were wondering. I hope your summer has been going better.

With love,

Gwen

Tom,

Sorry we write you so late, but it's been a bit hectic here. Believe it or not, but we somehow found ourselves with a gnome infestation early this summer, and me and Seth have been helping the gardener get rid of it. They're gone now, luckily. Mum was almost ready to blow up when they started destroying her flower beds.

How are you doing? Anything interesting happing there in the muggle world? Do you still want to come and visit? Mum said you are always welcome. I can't wait to hear back from you!

Hope and Seth

Hey Tom,

I'm writing because something awesome happened yesterday, that I think you can appreciate! You met our big sister Walburga, right? Well, she and Alphard have a pretty special bond. And with bond I mean that she often curses him for these pranks he keeps playing on her. Well, yesterday, Al actually succeeded in making all the mirrors in the house shriek in horror every time Burga looks into them. Now guess what happened, because this is the funny part! She screamed so loud at Al that he is now literally deaf! Dad had to bring in a Healer, and he said it was only temporary, so he'll be back to normal in a week or two. Even better: Walburga hurt her throat, so she's been advised not to talk at all for a whole month! It's the quietest the house has been in years!

Anyway. Write back, will you? Preferably with some ideas on how to make optimal use of Walburga and Alphard's dispositions. Or on how to get Cygnus blind (temporarily of course. I'm not that evil!). That way, I'll have all three monkeys.

Yours truly,

Artemis

Tom,

Why haven't you written back yet? We're kind of waiting for a reply. When should we pick you up? Are you still planning on coming? Hope is pretty upset that you don't answer.

Seth and Hope

Dear Tom,

How come we haven't heard from you yet? Apparently the others haven't gotten any replies either and I'm getting worried here. Please answer soon!

Love,

Gwen

Abraxas,

Have you heard of Tom yet? Artemis said that Hope and Seth are getting really restless, and honestly, they did look pretty upset when they came to visit when my ears were still recovering. (I bet Art told you what happened, she apparently told everyone)

Alphard

Riddle,

Try and at least write to someone will you? No one has heard from you in a whole month already.

Abraxas Malfoy

Dear Hope,

We need to do something, fast! I don't trust those muggles. What if they did something to Tom? You saw how unwilling he was to go back. Who's idea was it to leave a magical child with bloody muggles anyway? Have they learned nothing from History?

Artemis

Dear Artemis,

How about you worry about History once you can actually stay awake when we learn about it in class? But you're right. I'm really worried about Tom. If he hasn't contacted anyone by the end of the week, Seth and I will be going to get him.

Hope

Hello Tom,

Yesterday, Gwen nearly cried because she was so worried about you. We all are. Please write back! To me, to Gwen. Anyone! Just let us know you're alright. I heard some of your friends are thinking about informing the authorities, but that could be just a rumour. Just to be sure, though, I'd suggest you write back soon.

Greetings,

Octavian

You think this is a joke, Riddle? Answer your bloody mail!

Megan

Tom,

Are you still even alive?

Artemis and Alphard

Tom,

Please answer us.

Hope and Seth

Answer.

Abraxas


	2. Rescuing Tom

"You are getting it now, boy!" David yelled, slapping Tom hard.

The boy winced in pain and tried to protect his face.

"You are going to your room right away and you're lucky the matron doesn't allow me to properly punish you or I would teach you a lesson! In your room, now!"

He hit him at his back one more time before throwing him in his room. Tom staggered while the door was forcefully thrown closed and even locked. Scowling in anger, Tom furiously wiped at his eyes to keep his tears out of them. Stupid bloody Billy Stubbs! The bastard had been taunting Tom so much lately that he just wanted to curse him.

A soft ticking on his window had Tom look over and scowl. Another owl. The black eagle owl from the Blacks if he was right, and he usually was anyway. He strode over to the window and slammed his palms against the glass, scaring the creature.

"Get out of here you stupid bird!" he hissed.  
"I'm in enough trouble as it is! I don't need you around making it worse!"

He'd been getting more and more owls around lately, and it started to get noticed by the others. The matron held an annoyingly close eye on him ever since he'd returned, and David always had some more work for him to do. As if that wasn't enough, Billy Stubbs and his gang had apparently decided they needed to make up for the past year where they hadn't been able to bully him because of his absence and kept bothering him at any moment of the day. Because of all that, Tom had been sending the owls back to their owners more and more often without accepting the letters, and he hadn't yet been able to send any kind of reply to any of them.

Sudden commotion in the hall had him forget temporarily about his misfortune and he pressed an ear against the door to better hear.

"Riddle?" he heard Billy Stubbs' incredulous voice.  
"What would you want with that freak? He's bloody creepy!"

The next thing that was heard was a loud shout in surprise and shock, again in Billy's voice, which made Tom grin. The little bastard deserved to be slapped around some. Even better, Crucioed.

"Leave it, sis. This dirt of society isn't worth it," someone said coldly.

Tom's eyes widened when he recognized the voice as Seth Knight and he stepped back from the door with a scowl. What were the Knight twins doing here of all places.

"Well, how about someone finally tells us where we can find Tom already!" he heard Hope shout in aggravation.

Tom sighed. Quickly, he took the loose nail out of the broken floorboard and put it in the lock of his door. He'd done this several times before, and by this point, he was able to pick the lock within ten seconds flat. The door swung open easily enough and he stepped out, ignoring the pang of shame he felt when he saw how sharply dressed his friends were compared to him.

"Hey," he greeted them as casual as he could.  
"How are you two doing on this fine summer evening?"

Seth and Hope both scowled and Hope stepped up to him.

"How are we doing?" she asked in an annoyed hiss.  
"Not one bloody letter! Do you have any idea how worried we all are?!"

Tom glowered at the girl and pushed past her.

"Let's not talk about that here," he said.

"Fine," Seth grumbled, stopping his twin before Hope could explode.  
"We have a carriage waiting in front. We'll talk at home."

Tom tensed and looked at his friends with a shocked expression which caused Hope to snort.

"You didn't think we came all the way just for a 'hi', right?" she told him.  
"We figured that since you never answered, you were probably being mistreated by these m-people, so we came to save you!"

"I'm swooning," Tom drawled.

With that, he turned back around and walked down the stairs to where his stuff had been locked away by the matron, who had gotten scared by the weird-looking books and had decided they weren't to be used at the Orphanage. He easily took care of that lock too and pulled his trunk out before turning around and finding David and the matron standing next to a big, dark man.

"This is Jack, our bodyguard," Seth introduced the man.

"A bodyguard. Why am I even still surprised?" Tom muttered.

Hope chuckled.

"Technically, he's our mum's because she has a bit of a dangerous job as head of the Department of Mysteries," she explained.  
"But when we told her where we were going, she insisted we'd bring him along too. It could be dangerous in London."

"That explains everything," Tom said, rolling his eyes.

He had always known that his friends were rich and important, but he hadn't yet realized how much this was true. The Knights were quite possibly the most influential family in Britain that didn't have the dubious honour of being on the Sacred 28. In fact, they were better off than at least _half_ the people on that list, with the Malfoys and the Blacks still above them, of course.

"Well I see you next summer I suppose," Tom spoke gleefully at his caretakers.

David glared hatefully at him, but didn't dare to open his mouth. He looked awfully pale and shaky next to the big guy and Tom grinned innocently at him. Now the bastard knew how it felt to be helpless and at the mercy of someone else. Still grinning, Tom followed the twins outside and his mouth fell open.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked choked.

"Don't worry, the muggles don't see the wings," Seth told him smugly.

Before him stood a black carriage with silver ornaments and six black pegasi in the span. On the reigns sat a man with long silver hair that was pulled back with a blue bow and he wore a nice black jacket.

"That's our handler, Phillip," Seth told Tom before clambering into the carriage.

Hope laughed at Tom's expression and pushed the boy towards the carriage. Slowly, Tom climbed in before he was joined by Hope while the bodyguard Jack climbed up to sit next to the handler. He was surprised again when he found Abraxas already sitting in the nice, velvet blue seats with a book in his hands and a bored expression on his regal face.

"Took you long enough," the boy drawled lazily, closing his book.

"Good to see you too," Tom replied with a roll of his eyes.

. . . . .

The four kids were dozing by the time the carriage landed and they came to a halt. The bodyguard Jack opened the door and glared at Tom with his dark eyes. Tom worried for a moment the man would do something, but just then, Hope stirred and all Jack did was grunt and step aside to let the girl out. Quickly, Tom followed her.

To his surprise, it was already dawn and he stared wide-eyed to the rising sun that peeked out over the lake and the weeping willows that stood next to the large Mansion. It didn't look much like those big Victorian ones that he saw in the nicer sides of London, instead, the windows were large and the walls an off white. Where they were now was on a large lane to the side of the house that led towards the stables and Tom could already see several dogs lying lazily in the first light of the morning sun.

"C'mon! Mum will be glad to see you," Hope said, grabbing Tom's hand.

She dragged him over the path to the backdoor. It was a small servant's door, painted light blue. They entered immediately in the kitchen, where Tom could see a small, odd looking creature tending to the stove, but Hope didn't pay it much mind aside from calling a cheerful greeting towards it.

They walked through another door, painted white this time and ended up in a spacious dining room. It had a large table of dark wood with a white cloth that had golden flowers embroidered on it. It had a total of eight chairs around it, all with deep, sky blue and gold cushions on it. Instead of a door to lead towards the drawing room, there was a large, high open arch and Hope didn't hesitate going through.

In one of the large, Slytherin green couches that stood around the hearth, both Mr. and Mrs. Knight sat. Mr. Knight had the Daily Prophet in hand and was calmly reading through it while Mrs. Knight read a book that had likely come from the large bookcase that occupied the entire back wall, top to bottom and side to side.

"How was London?" Mr. Knight asked without even looking up from his paper.

"We didn't see much of it, but the orphanage wasn't pretty," Seth shrugged.

This had the man look up and he observed Tom with a scowl.

"That's sad to hear," he said with a wry smile.  
"I hope at least that your stay here will be a happy one."

"I'm sure it will be, sir," Tom said respectfully.

"Amadeus, please," the man said smiling.

"It's very good to see you again, Tom," Mrs. Knight spoke up, smiling at Tom.  
"I'm sorry we haven't been properly introduced as of yet, but I'm Lorena."

"It's very nice to meet you," Tom said politely.

The woman pursed her lips and looked Tom over with a critical eye that made the young boy feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"We'll go shopping for some _proper_ clothes for you this afternoon," she decided.  
"I won't have any child walking around in such rags on my watch."

Tom blushed a bit in shame.

"I don't have any money…" he mumbled.

"I'm taking you shopping, child," the woman said determined.  
"And money won't be an issue. I'll be paying for anything, otherwise, all that money would just rot in my vault anyway."

Tom opened his mouth to deny her generous offer, but Mrs. Knight just held up her hand to silence him before turning to the other three kids with a bright smile.

"Why don't you all help Tom get settled?" she suggested.  
"I've had Silky prepare the room across from Abraxas'. You should really write Alphard and Artemis too, they've floo-called us only half an hour ago, sick with worry, and even that kind young Weasley girl called. After that, I'm sure breakfast will be ready."

"Yes mum!" Hope and Seth spoke in unison.

Once they had gotten Tom's stuff upstairs and into the bedroom, which had deep purple wallpaper and a large canopy bed with blue sheets, a big oak writing desk, its own bookcase, a very beautiful looking wardrobe and a dark blue loveseat, they all went back downstairs.

"I wrote Alphard and Artemis, Weasley and even Megan," Abraxas informed the others calmly when Seth started complaining that the other blond boy hadn't helped Tom unpack.

"That's good. I know for a fact that they were all just as worried as we were," Hope said with a grin.

"Yeah! Alphard and I were almost sure that the muggles had burned you on the stake!" Seth laughed.  
"Well, that's what I thought at least. Alphard thought they had chopped you up in tiny bits and made you into soup to feed the other starving orphans."

"If they would kill me, then they'd definitely use Alphard's method," Tom agreed.

"It's sickening to even think how muggles could abuse magical people," Abraxas said, scowling unhappily.

"It's sickening to think how anyone could abuse anyone," Hope corrected with a frown.  
"But at least Tom is with us now! Safe and sound, that's all that counts, right?"

The others all nodded in agreement just as they walked back into the drawing room. They had barely entered or the small creature Tom had seen in the kitchen rushed in. Now that he had more time to look at it, he saw it was rather humanoid, with large bat ears, a long, thin nose, bulbous light blue eyes and it wore a fancy looking pillowcase with holes made into for the head and thin arms and _'Cookie'_ embroidered in silver thread on the chest.

"Breakfast is served Masters," it squeaked in a high-pitched voice.

"Thank you, Cookie," Mr. Knight said smiling.

He stood up and walked over to the dining room with his wife and Hope while Tom stayed rooted on the spot, staring wide-eyed as the small creature disappeared with a sound of a cracking whip.

"What was that?" he asked.

"A House Elf," Abraxas replied.  
"They serve wizarding families."

"We have two of them," Seth told Tom.  
"I mean, we could easily afford more, but we don't need any more. Silky does most of the household stuff and Cookie does the cooking. We also have a gardener, but he's a Squib… I think he's the cousin of my dad's uncle, but I can't be sure…"

"Silky and Cookie… Do they all have such odd names?" Tom asked.

"Most do," Abraxas shrugged.  
"House Elves don't have names until they start serving a family."

By now, they had walked into the dining room, and Tom and Seth had sat down across from Hope while Abraxas sat down next to the girl.

"We named Silky and Cookie ourselves, after our old Elf, Yoyo died," Hope said.  
"Silky because she is so soft and sweet, and Cookie because she used to bake the most amazing chocolate chip cookies."

"She still does," Seth added with a grin.

. . . . .

Tom had expected that going shopping for new clothes meant leaving the mansion for a visit to Diagon Alley, yet instead, Mrs. Knight flooed a middle-aged lady over to get Tom fitted and make some _handmade outfits_. Tom had been shocked beyond belief at this.

"Madam Greengrass," Mrs. Knight greeted with a smile.

She quickly ordered her two kids and their other guest to go play outside, and the three platinum blondes disappeared immediately to play some Quidditch. Tom was infinitely grateful he didn't have to suffer through that murderous game.

Tom and the seamstress, Madam Greengrass, were lead to an empty guest room, where the golden blond haired woman conjured a small pedestal and ordered Tom to stand on it. Measuring tape and several rolls of cloth started floating around while the two adult women talked about what would best fit Tom. The boy just looked on nervously.

"Strip. Then we can get started," Madam Greengrass suddenly ordered, glancing only minutely at Tom.

The boy tensed, eyes widening in horror and he quickly shook his head.

"I-I rather not," he mumbled blushing.

Mrs. Knight frowned in worry and stepped closer.

"What is it, Tom?" she asked softly.  
"Just take off your top. I'm sure it won't be that bad."

Tom knew it was that bad, but he still nodded, dark grey eyes focused on the two women before him.

"Promise you won't ever tell anyone," he said softly.

"Of course, dear," Mrs. Knight agreed readily.

With a deep sigh, Tom undid the buttons of his grey shirt and took it off. With one last warning glare at the adults, he turned around. His eyes closed when he heard the gasps of horror behind him and his jaw clenched. He knew what his back looked like, a cross-cross of cane marks and scars from whips.

He had only been whipped once, when David was especially angry with him over something he couldn't even remember anymore. The Matron was luckily against that kind of punishments, so Tom only ever had to endure beatings and canings, but never whips. Not after that first time.

"Oh sweet Morgana," Mrs. Knight whispered.

Tom turned back to look at her, a cold expression in his dark eyes.

"Not a word of this is breathed outside this room," he spoke threateningly.

Both women were too shocked to do much else than nodding their heads in agreement. Tom nodded back at them stiffly and allowed the seamstress to start with measuring him. He didn't flinch away from her overly gentle hands, didn't even look at her. Tom refused to show weakness. No. This was strength, he decided. He survived and one day, he would exact revenge on every single muggle that had dared lay a hand on him. They would all burn.


	3. Diagon Alley

Life with the Knights was nothing like at the orphanage, and what was better: they even had their very own library. Tom rarely left the large room, much to Seth and Abraxas' annoyance and Hope's amusement. But none of them could fault him when he explained that there were only three books in the whole orphanage, and those were children's books. Getting the opportunity to read wasn't something Tom was going to pass up on.

After about a week, Abraxas took his leave, but before that he had forced Tom to promise he'd go outside at least one hour every day. He claimed that it was because he didn't want the shame of being friends with a miss-sort, so Tom shouldn't be too bookish, but everyone knew he was just worried about Tom's health and he wanted to make sure the dark haired boy would take in enough sunlight.

Their Hogwarts letters arrived one sunny afternoon about two weeks after Tom had arrived at the Knight Manor. He, Hope and Seth went down to the breakfast table and saw Mr. and Mrs. Knight already sitting. The two of them were always up early. Even when Tom had come down for a glass of water at 6 in the morning they'd already be up and about. Tom sometimes wondered if they ever even went to sleep at all and he was considering testing this in one of the next days.

"Your letters have arrived, apparently Dippet knows you are here, Tom," Mr. Knight said, handing them each a yellow envelop.

For a few minutes there was a silence when everyone read their letter. Tom's told him to catch the train at platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross station the first of September as usual. There was also an extra letter he had to hand over to the goblins at Gringotts to receive his school finances.

"We'll go tomorrow," Mrs. Knight decided.

"Then I'll write the others. Maybe we can meet up all together," Hope said.

. . . . .

"We'll be leaving soon," Mrs. Knight told the kids as they readied themselves.  
"Tom. Have you ever traveled by Floo before?"

"No, I'm afraid I haven't," the boy replied tensely.

"No problem! Seth will show you how it's done," Mr. Knight told him.

Seth nodded and took a copper pot from the stove. He handed it to his mother and took some glittering powder out of it.

"It's important you speak clearly," Hope explained as Seth threw the powder in the hearth.

"Diagon Alley!"

The green flames rose higher than Seth before he stepped into it and disappeared.

"Do not mutter," Mrs. Knight said.  
"Say it twice first."

Tom did as told before Mrs. Knight finally let him take some of the powder.

"Keep your arms tucked in and make sure you don't miss the hearth," Hope told him as Tom stepped up to the hearth.

"Diagon Alley!" Tom spoke clearly as he had practiced.

It felt as if he was being sucked down a tight hole. He seemed to be spinning very fast… the roaring in his ears was deafening… he tried to keep his eyes open but the whirl of green flames made him feel sick… Something hard hit his elbow and he tried to squeeze it even closer… now it felt as though cold hands were slapping his face… When he squinted, he saw a blurred stream of fireplaces and snatched glimpses of the room behind… his breakfast wanted to come up again and he quickly shut his eyes again. He just wished it would stop. Suddenly he felt himself being thrown out, head first and he stumbled before regaining his balance again.

"Who would have thought Tom Riddle could be that ungraceful!" Alphard snickered.

Tom looked over and glared at the dark haired teen standing next to his sister and Seth.

"It was his first time," Seth argued.

"So there really are things Tom can't do from the first try?!" Artemis gasped dramatically.

"Start mocking me when you actually beat me in class," Tom told her casually, side-stepping as the hearth flashed and Hope stepped out.

"Art!" she exclaimed happily, flying the dark haired girl around the neck.

"Hope! Good to see you again!" Artemis laughed, hugging her best friend back with equal enthusiasm.

"Good to see the two of you again too," Mrs. Knight greeted as she and her husband arrived as well.  
"How was your holiday? I think Pollux said something about South France?"

"It was great!" Alphard told her grinning.  
"And how was your holiday, aunt Loraine?"

That was when Tom remembered something Abraxas had told him last year: Alphard and Artemis' real mother had been a Knight, and as such, they were related to Hope and Seth… their fiancées…

"Let's get going! First stop: Gringotts!" Mr. Knight announced cheerfully.

After they had their money, they separated, arranging that they would meet each other at the bookshop an hour later. The Knights would be meeting Abraxas there as well so the group of friends decided to stroll a bit through Diagon Alley and do some window shopping. As they strolled through the warm streets, the boys wanted to keep looking at the brooms but Tom was losing his patience very quickly.

"I'm going to try out this year!" Alphard announced grinning.  
"As a Seeker. Burga is already a Chaser, as you guys know and she told me they were looking for one."

"And I'll be watching the try-outs, so I can laugh when you make a fool out of yourself," Artemis teased.

"Like that will happen," Alphard scoffed.

"I'm going to join the Duelling club," Seth decided.

That piqued Tom's interest right away and he grinned.

"Still looking for a sparring partner?" he offered.

"I prefer one I can actually beat," Seth replied, scowling playfully.

With that, the five of them continued walking towards the shops they needed for their school stuff. They met up with Gwen and Octavian at the Apothecary. The female redhead immediately pulled Tom in a bone-crushing hug.

"I was so worried!" Gwen exclaimed, nearly in tears as she finally let go of the boy.

"The orphanage needed all the help they could get," Tom said stiffly, looking away.

It wasn't a lie of course. With only one cook, David and a matron with a big drinking problem, the kids often had to pitch in. Usually, they had a task roll that switched up every day, or at least once a week, but since everyone hated Tom, especially David, he had to do the most annoying and difficult tasks there were every time again. That, and David had threatened to shoot the owls if they kept showing up.

Mrs. Knight looked at Tom with a scowl, but luckily, she didn't breathe a word of his treatment there. He didn't want them to know, it would be too shameful. Tom didn't want these people to see him as pitiable. No. He would be their equal, even if his blood made him less.

. . . . .

The end of summer came too quickly for Tom's liking. The month he had spent with the Knights had been the best time of his life. It was hard for Tom to not be jealous of the warm family his friends had when he thought about the orphanage and the kind of welcome that was awaiting him.

On their last evening of summer, Mrs. Knights prepared a wonderful meal with all their favorite treats and as desert a mouthwatering plum pudding. They ended the evening with a family-game, chosen by the twins since Tom had no idea what those games even were when they asked him to choose. Way too quick it was time for their last mug of hot chocolate before they went to bed.

They were ready to leave in the morning rather fast. The Knights were always prepared beforehand, it seemed, in stark contrast with the Orphanage. Tom was extremely grateful to them for their foresight to prepare everything the day before so they could eat breakfast peacefully and load everything in the carriage without any stress and rushing around. He hated waiting around for others to get ready, like he always had to during group outings at Wool's.

As they arrived at the Platform, Abraxas and Megan were already waiting for them, as was Gwen, who waved happily at the three.

"Good summer, Tom?" Abraxas asked, shaking the dark haired boy's hand comradely.

"You definitely look better now that you're out of those scrubs," Megan laughed.

"Mrs. Knight was too kind, giving me those clothes," Tom replied, smiling shyly.

She really had been. After finding out about the treatment Tom was given at the Orphanage, she had written some letters to the Ministry, but they had insisted that it was the task of the muggle government to look into it. With the way the woman had hissed and cursed at 'those idiotic muggles', Tom guessed that that conversation hadn't gone well either.

Moments after they arrived, the Weasleys did as well. Septimus and Sexta were talking animatedly, but stopped as soon as they noticed the Slytherins and their cousin all huddled together, with dual scowls, the two redheads walked past them together with their mother, who kindly greeted Mrs. Knight in her passing. Octavian quickly murmured a greeting to his friends as he stayed by his mother's side.

"Ready for another year?" Hope asked her friends cheerfully.

"More than ready!" Gwen replied with a bright grin.  
"I already read some of the books and they are so interesting!"

"Behold, the ultimate Ravenclaw!" Alphard's amused voice called out.

He and his twin sister walked over with bright grins on their faces, their older sister and father walking behind them with annoyed scowls on their faces. They had taken on their usual appearance of black hair and bright green eyes.

"You're late," Abraxas told the duo.

Artemis and Alphard looked at each other with sheepish grins and scratched their heads.

"We may have overslept a little," Alphard confessed.

"And we couldn't find our brooms," Artemis added.  
"Still couldn't, actually, but Kreacher promised to bring them when they turn up."

"Have you two still not cleaned up your pigsty's?" Hope asked exasperated.  
"I thought you wouldn't be allowed to leave the house until you had."

"Yeah, but they can't keep us home during school!" Alphard said proudly.

"Idiots," Hope muttered, rolling her eyes while her twin chuckled amused.

"How about we get on the train before it leaves without us?" he suggested.

"Sounds like a plan!" Megan agreed, grabbing Seth's arm.

The group stepped into the bright red train only moments before the whistle blew and the doors closed.

"Let's go find Octavian," Gwen suggested.  
"I'm sure he has already found a place for us to sit."

The others all agreed and they walked through the train towards the back, where Tom had sat with Gwen the year before, and found Octavian there on his own, trying to convince a few Hufflepuffs that he was keeping the compartment occupied for his friends.

"We're here!" Artemis called out, waving.

"Thanks for saving us a spot!" Alphard agreed, elbowing past the Hufflepuffs.

The badgers glared at the dark haired twins and turned away, muttering about their rudeness and the unfairness of the situation. Tom smirked and rolled his eyes. The world was unfair.

"Hey, everyone," Octavian whispered, smiling meekly at the group.

"Weasley, such a delight to be greeted by your beautiful appearance!" Artemis spoke up, leaning down to plant three smacking wet kisses on the boy's cheeks.

"Such an honour to have you join us, my good sir!" Alphard exclaimed, shaking Octavian's hand just a little too enthusiastically.

"Absolutely wonderful!" Artemis continued.

"Just spiffing, old friend!" Alphard said.

"Sit down, you morons!" Hope laughed.

The Black twins laughed and plopped down in the seat across from Octavian, pulling Hope along in between them, which caused the blonde to erupt in giggles with her two friends. Seth rolled his eyes and sat down next to Alphard, winking at Octavian, who was still blushing from the enthusiastic greeting he had received from the two Metamorphmagi.

"Don't worry, cousin. They're always like that," Gwen chuckled as she sat down next to the other Ravenclaw.

"You'll eventually get used to them," Abraxas agreed with a soft chuckle.

"Really? I'm still waiting for that moment," Tom said as he and Abraxas sat down next to Gwen.

Megan pouted, seeing she was the only one without a spot to sit, but then started grinning and made herself comfortable on Tom's lap, making the dark haired orphan open his eyes wide in shock and start blushing.

"If you want my seat, I can stand up!" he sputtered embarrassed.

"And then you can sit on my lap!" Alphard laughed, winking at him.

Tom only turned redder at that, causing Megan to howl out in laughter and wrap her arms around the blushing boy.

"This works perfectly for me, Tom," she purred.  
"You're a comfy seat. I'd expected you to be bonier."

"He lived with us for a whole month," Seth said dryly.  
"It's a bloody miracle he isn't fat yet with how mum tried to stuff him full."

"A fat Tom. Now that would be a hilarious sight!" Artemis laughed.

"Do you have to tease me like that?" Tom groaned.

"After making us worry so much, I think we deserve some teasing time," Gwen said smirking.

Tom gave her a weak glare and pouted.

"You're supposed to be on my side, Gwen!" he said betrayed.

"This time you're on your own, Riddle!" the redhead teased.

"You're all evil!"

"We're Slytherins. That's apparently a must," Abraxas said dryly.

. . . . .

As they came closer to their destination, the girls were quick to kick out the boys so they could get changed, some annoyance by Alphard especially.

"As if it's anything I haven't seen before!" he grumbled.  
"Artemis and I took baths together until we were ten and I've seen Hope naked dozens of time too!"

"How many times after we turned five though?" Seth asked, rolling his eyes.

"… Why should that matter?" Alphard asked pouting.

"Well, our sisters are blossoming in young ladies now," Seth said smartly.  
"Hope started bleeding already, so of course they don't want us there anymore."

"Can we not talk about that?" Abraxas asked, his expression horrified.

Tom and Octavian nodded their heads in agreement, causing Alphard and Seth to laugh and shrug their shoulders before they continued changing. A little while later, Gwen opened the door to the compartment again to let the boys back in, this time leaving Hope to sit on Abraxas' lap instead.


End file.
